Imagine a time when the entire universe froze - according to a new model for dark energy, that is essentially what happened about 11.5 billion years ago, when the universe was a quarter of the size it is today.   

A cosmological phase transition, similar to freezing, is one of the distinctive aspects of this latest effort to account for dark energy; a mysterious, unseen negative force that some cosmologists say makes up more than 70 percent of all the energy and matter in the universe and is pushing the universe apart at an ever-faster rate. 

A new low-bandwidth, high-frame-rate videoconferencing technology that creates the appearance of three-dimensionality and a strong sense of co-presence without the use of expensive motion-tracking devices or multicamera arrays could eventually become available for cell phones, laptop computers and personal digital assistants, according to a researcher at the University of Virginia.

The technology was presented Friday in London at the International Workshop on Image Analysis for Multimedia Interactive Services.

As many as 1 in 3 adults (up to 72 million people) in the United States has high blood pressure. Hypertension can lead to coronary heart disease, heart failure, stroke, kidney failure, and other health problems, and is attributed to 7 million deaths worldwide each year. 

Blood pressure has a genetic component and hypertension runs in families.   Attempts to identify genes associated with blood pressure have met with limited success but now an international research team says they have identified a number of unsuspected genetic variants associated with systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), and hypertension (high blood pressure), suggesting potential avenues of investigation for the prevention or treatment of hypertension.

Scientists in Germany and India are reporting development of a new cobalt imprinted polymer that reduces the amount of radioactive waste produced during routine operation of nuclear reactors. Their study, which details a first-of-its-kind discovery, has been published in Industrial&Engineering Chemistry Research.

Scientists in California are reporting use of a first-of-its-kind approach to craft genetically engineered microbes with the much-sought ability to transform switchgrass, corn cobs, and other organic materials into methyl halides — the raw material for making gasoline and a host of other commercially important products.

The new bioprocess could help pave the way for producing biofuels from agricultural waste, easing concerns about stress on the global food supply from using corn and other food crops. Their study is scheduled for the May 20 issue of the Journal of the American Chemical Society. 

KVISTGARD, Denmark, May 9 /PRNewswire/ -- Oxford Biomedica's second attempt to dismiss Bavarian Nordic's patent infringement suit in the United States has failed. Instead of denying infringement, Oxford Biomedica made yet another attempt to dismiss the suit arguing that it was premature because TroVax(R) was still evaluated in clinical trials. The court ruled against Oxford Biomedica and the case will thus continue, based on the substance of the patents.

Throughout the post-industrial era, science and technology have been central  to understanding both global security threats and possible solutions. Within the US and across the globe, major scientific organizations have developed Committees and working groups to integrate science with security policy, however, those efforts have focused almost exclusively on physical/life sciences and been applied predominantly to WMD-related threats．

READING, England, May 8 /PRNewswire/ --

- Meets Primary Efficacy Endpoint

- First Study of a Next-Generation Fentanyl-Based Product to Show Superiority Over Immediate Release Morphine

Archimedes Pharma Limited, the UK-based, pan-European specialty pharmaceutical company, today announces new positive headline phase III results for NasalFent(R), the Company's innovative and highly differentiated fentanyl citrate nasal spray, developed for the rapid relief of breakthrough cancer pain. The ground breaking phase III study compared NasalFent to immediate release morphine sulphate, the most commonly prescribed medicine for breakthrough cancer pain.

LONDON, May 8 /PRNewswire/ -- The results of v's first independent evaluation are published today - confirming that eighty-five percent of the investments made by the youth volunteering charity between May 2006 and September 2008 could not have taken place without v funding. The findings, delivered by independent consultancy WM Enterprise, demonstrate the significant added value of v's role in co-ordinating and commissioning youth volunteering programmes across England, and confirm that there is little deadweight[1] across v's early investments.

HONG KONG, May 8 /PRNewswire/ --

NetDragon Websoft Inc. (NetDragon), a leading online game developer and operator in the PRC (NetDragon, with its subsidiaries collectively know as the Group, stock code:777) announced the release of a new English language expansion pack, The Divine Path, for its fantasy online game, Eudemons Online, on May 8, 2009. The English version follows the launch of the Chinese language expansion pack (Zhong Shen Gui Lai) in January 2009, which features elements of Greek mythology and divine eudemons, offering a fresh experience to players, while maintaining the integrity of the original title. The launch of the English expansion pack is expected to bolster the influence of Eudemons Online in the overseas markets.